Is it in his eyes
by zlinka
Summary: Hinata is going to prove her strength, by seeing what's behind the sunglasses.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the other characters.

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_Today is the day!_ Hinata took a deep calming breath as she walked to the training grounds where her team was going to meet. _Nothing is going to stop me. I'm stroger then I was and I'll continue to grow stronger._ This last thought was Hinata's personal mantra. After the infamous chuunin exams, Hinata had decided that she was never going to be weak again.

Today she was going to complete one of the goals she had set up to meassure her improvement. Last week she had warned him of what she was planning, just not saying the day that she was going to do the deed. Hinata smiled as she remembered the that conversating.

**Team 8 was finishing up their training session for the day. Kiba and Akamru were lazing against the log watching the end of Hinata and Shino's taijutsu practice. They had been sparring for the last part of the session and Hinata had not only been able to keep up, but she had actually scored some hits. When Kurenai sensei had called the session to a halt Hinata had the biggest grin on her face.**

**"Shino-kun," she panted, as they walked over to their gear, "You might want to get ready."**

**"Oh?" he said, lifting one eyebrow over his sunglasses.**

**Hinata nodded. "I'm going to complete goal number 18 this week."**

**When Hinata had come to Shino six months ago about becoming stronger, they had set up 20 goals for her to complete. These were things that she thought that she should be able to do when she truely became strong. Last week she had finished number 17, keep up with Kiba and Akamaru on one of thier "walks."**

**Shino's other eyebrow raised at this. "Really?" **

**Hinata nodded, enjoying the rare look of surprise on his face. "I'm going to find out what you're hiding under those glasses."**

Hinata had spent every spare minute between then and now working on her strategy. She had even asked Shikamaru what he thought of her plan, warning him that he would regret telling anybody about her plan. He just scoffed at her and rolled his eyes. Knowing that he would keep the secret, Hinata rewarded him one of her rare smiles. Well rare for everyone who wasn't on her team. It was a smile that held no self consciousness, just pure joy.

Finally Hinata made it to the training grounds. She was early of course, but not by much. Soon Kurenai sensei arrived, followed shortly by Kiba and Akamaru. After several minutes there still was no sign on Shino. This worried Hinata, Shino is never late. _What if he knows about the plan?_

"Kurenai-sensei?" she began, "Where's Shino?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard anything," Kurenai answered, sounding worried herself.

"Maybe we should go check on him?" Hinata suggested.

"What are you worried about?" Kiba demanded, "The Bug-Freak probably decided to sleep in."

This didn't sound right. So, Hinata volunteered to go to the Aburame compound to find out what happened to him. Hinata liked the Aburame household. True, it was covered in bugs, but there was something about it that felt comfortable. Whenever Hinata was there, she felt surrounded by silence. Not the cold, stilted silence of the Hyuuga compound, but mostly just a lack of need to fill the silence. Like everything that needed to be said, could be said with a look, not noise.

Hinata stepped up onto the front porch of Shino's house. She reached up to knock, but the door was opened before her knuckles made contact. There stood Shino, dripping wet with a towel wrapped loosely at his hips. This was the last things Hinata saw, falling forward in a dead faint.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Naruto.

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Shino woke up that morning feeling like he had being stabbed multiple times in the stomache. There was a sharp shooting pain that just got worse as he lay in bed, curling into the fetal position in order to protect his poor abused tummy.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, he managed to get out of bed and hobble to the bathroom. _I knew that fish tasted funny_, he thought as he prepared to worship at the porcelan alter. Once his stomach was empty, and Shino had rinsed his mouth out well, he stumbled out of the bathroom and went down stairs. It was while he was making toast for himself that he noticed the clock.

_I'm late,_ he thought, raising an eyebrow above his sunglasses in annoyance. As his team mates could tell you, Shino was never late. So the fact that today would be the first time ever greatly annoyed him. When his toast popped up, Shino didn't even bother buttering it. Instead he started eating it on his way back to his bedroom to get his clothes. After collecting his outfit for the day, he made his way to the bathing room, thinking to have a quick scrub down before going to practice. _No need to smell bad just because I'm late._

He just finished pooring a bowl of warm water over his naked body, when one of his insects warned him of an intruder approaching the front entrance. One of the problems with his insects is that they can't always differentiate one person from another. This "intruder" could be anyone from an enemy ninja to a girl scout trying to sell cookies. _Better see who it is before they knock and wake up the whole house._ he thought. The house was empty of people, but some of the insects were nocturnal and tended to attack when disturbed. Aburame's simply controlled them, but everyone else would be sorely hurting.

So Shino wrapped a towel around his hips and made his way to the front door. Without checking the peep hole he opened it and saw Hinata. Who promptly fainted on him.

This worried Shino, mostly because he had to catch her at the expense of his towel, which was now pooled at his feet as they stood in the open doorway. Realizing exactly what kind of predicament he was in, Shino quickly dragged Hinata into his house, using her body to protect his modesty, and ordered his insects to shut the door.

Once Hinata was situated on a couch that was conviniently situated by the door, he looked for his towel. Unfortunately it was on the other side of the front door. So before Hinata could wake up, he streaked out of the living room and back to the bathing room, where his clothes were neatly folded on a stool.

When he entered the living room, fully dressed as usual, he noticed that Hinata hadn't woken up. Frowning, he leaned over her, to make sure that she was all right. The last time Hinata had fainted, it was over seeing Naruto after he returned from training with Jiraiya. She had made an unofficial goal after that, kind of a foot note to goal number 12. "I will no longer stutter when I talk, or faint when I see Naruto-kun." She managed to keep both those goals, even during her short relationship with the loudmouth blond. According to Hinata, they had agreed that they make better friends then boy/girl friends.

_Wonder what caused her to faint? She's seen me naked before._ This last thought has never been confirmed. Shino assmed that because Hinata has looked at him while her Byakugan was activated, that she has seen through his clothes. He also fervantly hoped that she hadn't done this whenever he thought of her naked, which had been happening more and more lately. He was very glad for his long coat sometimes.

So, Shino was leaning close to Hinata to make sure that she was still breathing, when he felt fingers that weren't his, pulling gently at the rim of his sunglasses. The angle she was trying to use was wrong, so they got caught on his face before she could get them off.

"Hinata," he stated in his most serene voice,"That's cheating."

Hinata's eyes opened and she looked strait into his. Then she gave him that smile he loved. It was was sweet and innocent, with out a hint of remorse for her actions. "I never said how I would get the glasses," she giggled.

_Did she just flirt with me?_

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Shino was a little OOC in that chap. Sorry.

Please review.


	3. Chapter 3

First of all I want to thank everyone who has been reading and replying to this story. I really appreciate the encouragment I've been getting. I'm trying to decide if this is where I should leave it, I think it could go either way.

Also, I don't own Naruto, even though it would be really kick ass if I did.

Sparring with Shino has always been frustrating for Hinata. Her families fighting style relies on being able to hit your apponent while his family uses insects as both a weapon and a shield. Another thing that in so frustrating is that Shino is really fast. Sometimes it's like he just disappears and reappears in the blink of an eye. That's a difficult thing to counter, espescially when your bloodline includes seeing _everything. _

But on several occassions Hinata has been able to do so in the past. She has even been able to beat him before, but she was never able to take off his glasses. While he was conscious anyway. She could have taken them off of him when he was knocked out on several occassions. She didn't, because a part of her knew that that would be cheating. She wants to see his eyes when she takes them off, see them open and unshielded.

She had seen the eyes of other members of the Aburame clan. They didn't all wear sunglasses. In fact, it seemed that only the head family of the clan wore them at all. If the other Aburame clan members eyes were any indication, then Shino's eyes were only a bid deal because of the glasses. But Hinata rather doubted that. She bet, that just like Shino himself, his eyes were amazing.

Hinata took a cleansing breath as she faced Shino. The match had just started, and like always, Shino waited for her to make the first move. Her first move was to start that jutsu she had been practicing in secret. She needed to conserve her chakra so she would have to wait until she finished the jutsu before activating her byakugan.

When she was done forming the hand signals, she placed her body in the familiar stance of the Gentle Fist. If you looked closely you could see chakra spiraling in the palm of her hand. She charged him and activated her byakugan, she would have to make this quick.

The first thing she noticed was that the Shino in front of her was actually a bug clone. _Excellent_, she thought as she sent a fist into the clone and watched in disolve into millions of bugs. Normally after the clone disolves the bugs would swarm back to Shino, but this time, they stayed hovering where they were. Hinata hadn't completely broken Shino's comand of the bugs, just made it so that they thought he was telling them to stay still.

Hinata caught Shino in the corner of her eye. She takes several kunai out of her pack and hold them as she charges him. This time it's the real Shino, and he has lost control of a little under 1/3 of his bugs. With her byakugan, she notices that he has bugs coming up behind her, trying to flank her. So, as she continues forward, she slips a piece of paper on the ground in front of the on coming bugs. The paper emits a light as soon as one of the bugs touches it. Suddenly all the bugs that were following her stop short. It's a good thing that Hinata had charged that paper up with the jutsu she was using.

The last 1/3 or so of Shino's bugs would either be used as a shield, or have to stay in his body in order to keep him alive. Shino would have to rely on his taijutsu, which even though he practiced it rigorously, Hinata knew he hated using it.

Before Hinata reached him, she threw the kunai. Of course they missed him, any shinobi worth his salt could avoid them. What didn't mis him however, was the thread attached to each kunai. The thread ended up clothes lining him, so that he fell on his back. That when Hinata pounced. She landed on his stomache, and quickly used her remaining kunai to pin him to the ground via his clothes. When she was sure that he wouldn't interfere, Hinata reached for his sunglasses.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for reading and reviewing so far. Based on popular demand, and a feeling of incompleteness, here's the fourth chapter. This isn't the end of it though. Enjoy.

Usual disclaimer here.

Hinata leaned in close to Shino as she reached, with her left hand, towards his sunglasses. About half way to its goal, Hinata's hand was stopped by Shino's left hand. A quick look confirmed that Shino's left sleeve was empty and his arm was sticking out the front of his coat.

Hinata's free hand streaked forward to hit a pressure point on his wrist. This action wouldn't hurt him, but it would cause his fingers to lose mobility temporarily. It was a rather shortsighted move though, because it caused his fingers to seize around her hand. After several futile attempts to free her hand, Hinata shrugged philosophically and dove forwards towards Shino.

Her forward movement was stopped by Shino's right arm. His forearm was placed across her upper chest. With both arms free of his coat Shino began to sit up, revealing more and more of his bare chest.

Hinata could feel her face heating up and lost several precious seconds fighting off the urge to faint.

" Sh-Shino kun," she stuttered, shaking her head to clear it. She then leaned her weight forward onto Shino's right arm as she tightened her hold on shi left. This action caused his right arm to be captured between their chests and his left hand to become nestled between her breasts.

Absently Hinata noted the interesting shade of pink that Shino turned. _I've never seen Shino blush before_. This thought caused Hinata to grin as her free hand grabbed hold of Shino's glasses and gently pulled them off.

Just in time too, because the second the glasses cleared Shino's face, was the second the jutsu Hinata used wore off. Shino's bugs swarmed over the two ninjas and Hinata giggled at the unfamiliar sensation of thousands of little legs crawling across her body.

When the last of the bugs disappeared into Shino's body, Hinata looked up into Shino's eyes. Or she would have, if he weren't holding them tightly shut.

"Shino kun?" Hinata asked quietly, concerned over his actions.

"I apologize Hinata chan. I cannot allow you to see my eyes right now," Shino's voice was serene as always, but there was an underlying emotion that she couldn't identify.

"What's wrong?"

"My eyes are very sensitive to the light," he explained.

Hinata didn't say anything. Finally after several minutes of silence she placed his sunglasses into his hand. "You'll show me when it's safe," With those words, Hinata climbed off Shino's lap and made her way back to Kiba and Kurenai sensei. She would have gotten further if Shino's hand wasn't still wrapped tightly around hers.


	5. Chapter 5

Usual disclaimer.

By the time Shino got home, he was a little annoyed. He had spent the rest of the day after Hinata's victory shirtless and clutching her hand. This actually would have been a very nice way to spend the afternoon if it weren't for Kiba.

Flashback-

"Yahoo! Hinata won!" Kiba hollered when the two ninjas returned after their match. "So, what was it like?"

"What was what like?" Hinata asked innocently.

"Shino's eyes," Kiba said as in exasperation.

"Kiba kun," she said reproachfully, "That is something that you will have to find out for yourself."

"Aw, man."

"Hinata," Kurenai sensei began, "What jutsu did you use?"

Hinata blushed at this and looked shyly at the ground. "Ano," she began, "You know how the basics of gentle fist work?"

"Yeah," Kiba said, "You shove chackra from your body through your palms into your opponents body."

"Right. This causes severe internal damage. Well, the jutsu I used concentrates chackra into my hand, like the gentle fist style, but instead of doing damage, it disrupts the flow of chackra used to communicate. For Shino that means his bugs. In theory it might even be effective against the Kazekage of Suna, but I'm not going to even think about trying it on him." Everyone laughed at this, which caused Hinata to blush because she had been serious. She would never think of fighting Gaara sama. She had seen the damage that he could do.

"So, what did you tell his bugs to do?" Kiba asked.

"They wouldn't listen to me," Hinata began, "so I tricked them into believing that Shino was ordering them to stay where they were."

"Well Hinata," Kiba began, "You completed one of your goals. You know what that means." Before Hinata could reply he continued, "It means that we take you out for a celebratory meal. Where do you want to eat?"

"Maybe we should wait until later Kiba," Hinata suggested. It was a reasonable request considering that Shino was half naked and couldn't let go of her hand. Kiba wouldn't hear of it though, and so the three of them went to an out door café where they wouldn't object to Shino's lack of shirt.

All would have been all right even then, if Naruto and his team hadn't shown up.

"Hey Hinata!" The blond shouted. "Who's that with you? He looks a lot like Shino, but he's not wearing his coat!"

"This is Shino," Hinata said.

"No way!" Sakura shouted, "He's hot!"

This statement caused many heads to turn, making Shino very nervous. He felt exposed without his coat on. With the coat, he had a shield against this kind of scrutiny. 'With out my coat I might as well be naked.' Of course Shino did his best so that the others wouldn't know how uncomfortable he was feeling.

"Maybe we should leave," Hinata whispered to him. He nodded a little at this and the two stood up. This brought their joined hands into view.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, "Are you two dating?"

"What kind of question is that?" Sakura screeched while Hinata blushed, "Of course they're dating!"

Neither Hinata nor Shino felt the need to correct her notion. They just quietly away from the table, trying to avoid eye contact with everyone, but especially with each other.

Halfway back to Hinata's house, he could move his fingers again, so he let go of her hand. It felt kind of empty and cold when he let go, so he quickly put his coat back on, ignoring the kunai holes, and shoved his hands in his pocket.

When they reached the gates of the Hyuuga compound, they stood awkwardly at the gate. Shino felt that there was much to say, but he didn't know where to begin, so instead he stuck with silence.

Finally after several minutes of the silence, Hinata bid him good night and dashed into her home, not even looking back.

End Flashback

Shino's mood didn't improve as he went over the days events in his mind. So, instead of brooding over it and doing nothing for the rest of the day. He decided to brood over it and start dinner. The sauce had just been left to simmer when there was a knock on the door.

Grumbling under his breath at the idiot who had interrupted his brooding session, he flung the door open and glared at the intruder from behind his coat and glasses. Immediately he stopped when he saw that it was Hinata at the door. Wordlessly he gestured for her to come in.

Once inside, she turned to face Shino and blushed. "Ano… Is it safe now?"

Shino was slightly confused by her question, until he remembered what he had told her earlier. After a long pause, he went over to the window and shut the curtains. Then he faced Hinata again, with his back to the window and removed his glasses.

She stared at his face for a while not saying anything. 'I know they're a little different, but they aren't that weird are they?' At this thought, he started to put his glasses back on, but was stopped by Hinata, who was closer to him then he realized.

"Please don't," she whispered. "I really like them." Then she smiled that smile. The one of truth and beauty. The smile that always made him glad to be on her team. The smile that he loved seeing more then any other smile on any other face.

Because it felt right, Shino did something that he normally never would have. He leaned forward, and gently pressed his lips to hers. They stayed that way for a while, neither wanting to ruin the moment. But of course, Shino finally did, staring into Hinata's pale pupiless eyes.

"Thank you," she said softly.

Thus started the relationship of Shino and Hinata and whenever people asked Hinata what it was that she saw in Shino ( because people soon forgot that he was a hottie under his coat), she would reply "It was in his eyes."

And done. Thanks for all the support. I hope you enjoyed the story.


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